Save Owls Head

Owl’s Head Developers Hire Local Voice

Samantha Long
All Nova Scotia
December 11, 2020

The Americans behind a proposed golf development on the Eastern Shore have hired NATIONAL Public Relations to engage with the public before buying provincially owned land for their project.

National’s Karen White says she’s been hired as the local voice for Lighthouse Links Development Company, the firm that wants to build as many as three golf courses at Owl’s Head.

The firm, led by Beckwith and Kitty Gilbert, first had to convince the government to take Owl’s Head off the list of pending protected areas and put it up for sale.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Owls Head court case stalling golf courses, much-needed jobs, Lighthouse Links argues

Francis Campbell
The Chronicle Herald
December 11, 2020

Full Article Here>

It’s unfortunate that the golf course proposal for Owls Head “continues to be delayed by this lawsuit which deprives Eastern Shore residents of what could be as many as 200 badly needed local jobs, during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Lighthouse Links said in a statement released to media Thursday.

… The Crown properties, according to the provincial documents submitted to the court in November, include a variety of coastal barrens and wetlands, exceptional bedrock-ridged topography and are home to the piping plover and the barn swallow, two species at risk.

The properties were removed from the protected list in March 2019 without public notification or consultation.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Challenging the Delisting of Canada’s Protected Areas

Transparency Critical in Protected Areas Planning

Owls Head Provincial Park Reserve in Nova Scotia has long been recognized for its conservation significance, as a stunning coastal headland that supports important ecosystems and a globally-rare plant community, but it is currently under threat.

In March 2019, the Nova Scotia government secretly delisted this site in order to sell the public land to a golf course developer. The government made this move without consulting or notifying the public. News of the delisting was discovered following investigative journalism by the CBC.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Iain Rankin says he’ll quit coal early, electrify transit if he becomes premier

The former cabinet minister released his environmental platform Monday

Taryn Grant 
CBC News
December 7, 2020

Full article here>

Nova Scotia Liberal leadership hopeful Iain Rankin is making far-reaching promises that he says will help the province make a difference on climate change.

… Further to his conservation goals, Rankin said he would designate remaining sites in the province’s parks and protected areas plan, which at one point included Owls Head —  a 285-hectare area on the Eastern Shore.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

A Bird’s Eye View of Owls Head Provincial Park

Owls Head Provincial Park is a 705.2-acre property, with over 5 miles of publicly owned shoreline.

As unanimously approved-in-principle by local community representatives in 1975, Owls Head Provincial Park was intended to be part of the “Islands and Headlands” component of the Eastern Shore Seaside Parks System. The area was supposed to be one of the “Natural Environment Parks Proposed as representative examples of the unique coastal landscape.”

The bedrock ridges were formed as the glaciers scraped across the province thousands of years ago. The whole ecosystem, including the coastal broom crowberry plant community, has evolved around these conditions.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

RICHARD BELL: Sweetheart Deal for Owls Head

Richard Bell
Eastern Shore Cooperator
Published online on December 1, 2020

View on the Eastern Shore Cooperator’s website

In the latest round in the fight to stop the province from turning Owls Head Provincial Park into an American billionaire’s three private golf courses and acres of luxury housing, the Department of Lands and Forestry (L&F) released another round of documents with dramatic new information.

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By Save Owls Head, ago
Save Owls Head Rally - Photo by David Sorcher

JIM VIBERT: McNeil’s environmental record a litany of broken promises

Jim Vibert
The Chronicle Herald
November 21, 2020

Nova Scotia’s Liberal government has quite a story to tell on the environment, but unfortunately that’s all it has. The reality is a litany of delayed action and unkept promises.

… Since 2013, Nova Scotia’s goal — adopted unanimously by the legislature — has been to protect 13 per cent of the province’s total landmass for nature.

McNeil promised that his government would reach that goal in its first term. It didn’t. In fact, it hasn’t yet, seven years on.

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By Save Owls Head, ago

Coastal Adventures

During the 2020 season, Coastal Adventures led destination paddles around Owls Head Provincial Park.

This area, part of the 100 Wild Islands Tourism Advancement Partnership, is perfect for kayaking & eco-tourism. The stunning archipelago contains over 100 islands and represents “one of the last remaining intact and ecologically rich island groups of its size in North America.” (Nova Scotia Nature Trust)

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By Save Owls Head, ago